Ask FGBC 69: Is the Threefold Division of the Law Biblical?

Jim Butler

The threefold division of the law — moral, ceremonial, and judicial — is examined as a biblically grounded framework rooted not in Westminster Assembly invention but in the canonical structure of Scripture itself, traceable through the patristics and medieval scholastics. The discussion distinguishes natural or moral law (written on the heart by virtue of creation) from positive laws that are covenantally bounded and therefore terminable, using circumcision, dietary laws, and the Sabbath as test cases. The conversation addresses how the apostolic hermeneutic applies the moral principle behind positive laws (such as the ox-muzzling text) without collapsing into theonomy. Listeners are pressed to engage the exegetical evidence rather than dismissing the framework as "too tidy."